LANSING — Legislators are looking to provide a safety-net for underage drinkers who need medical attention.

Their bill would allow a person under 21 to seek help without the risk of criminal penalties if they become dangerously intoxicated.

The goal is to make sure they get the help necessary should they drink too much, said its main sponsor, Rep. Anthony Forlini, R-Harrison Township.

“Kids will make the mistake of drinking. I just want to make sure they don’t make another, potentially fatal one,” Forlini said.

But a Michigan Association of Chiefs of Police official cautioned that the measure could be abused by underage drinkers trying to avoid criminal charges.

According to Forlini, people who are over-intoxicated but underage tend to avoid medical treatment for fear of being charged with being a minor in possession of alcohol.

“I’m not for underage drinking, but if a person needs help, they shouldn’t be deterred from seeking it,” Forlini said. “Right now, I can’t imagine a kid willingly going to the police if they’ve been drinking.”

He said that the bill would allow dangerously intoxicated people or their friends to contact police or emergency medical services without being punished.

“A lot of times, when a kid is drunk to the point that they need help, they can’t seek it for themselves. That’s why I would also like to see amnesty for the friend who initiates contact with police or EMS,” Forlini said.

However, he said the “good Samaritan” clause wouldn’t apply to drunken driving laws so violators could still be punished for getting behind the wheel.

“They need to contact help and have it come to them, not drive drunk to the hospital,” Forlini said.

Rep. Wayne Schmidt, R-Traverse City, said he co-sponsored the proposal in hopes that it would convince more young people to seek treatment for alcohol-related problems.

“I don’t want to penalize young people for admitting that they have a problem,” Schmidt said.

Schmidt said that he prefers that money spent on arresting underage drinkers go towards rehabilitation instead of incarceration.

However, Schmidt said that if a crime is more serious than underage drinking alone, punishment would be necessary.

“Seeking help is one thing, but if someone is driving drunk or doing something more serious, they should be penalized,” Schmidt said.

A 2008 survey by Michigan State University found that 24 percent of its students that were interviewed had experienced self-injury or health-threatening consequences due to drinking in the previous school year.

And 64 percent said they wouldn’t call 911 for an over-intoxicated friend who passes out.

Cornell University implemented a campus “medical amnesty protocol” in 2002 and reported that alcohol-related EMS calls increased by 22 percent during its first two years.

According to a report by the Students for Sensible Drug Policy, an advocacy group based in Washington, D.C., more than 90 universities including Michigan Technical University, Kalamazoo College and Lake Superior State University have programs similar to Cornell’s.

Steve Marino, vice chair of external affairs for the Associated Students of Michigan State University, said the group has called for medical amnesty for more than two years.

“We started advocating it after we heard of its success at Cornell and other universities,” Marino said.

New Mexico is the only state with similar legislation in place, according to Marino.

Because alcohol impairs judgment, underage drinkers may not always make the right decisions when a friend is in trouble, he said.

“No one should ever fear calling the police if someone is in trouble. This legislation would help someone make the right decision,” Marino said. “We want to save lives and if this saves just one, it’s worth it.”

George Basar, Howell police chief and legislative chair of the Michigan Association of Chiefs of Police, said the bill is a good concept but abuse could be a problem.

“The bill is open-ended, and the unintended consequences need to be considered. If police arrive at a party with underage drinkers and they all claim to need medical attention, it could put the officers in a tough situation,” Basar said.

He said that if violators use the law just to get out of a citation, it could stretch police resources thinner than they already are, especially in college towns where a high proportion of the residents are under the drinking age.

“There could also be potential for drunk driving by kids thinking they may be exempt under this law,” Basar said, adding that it could be a serious public safety issue.

Basar said that in his experience, young people are willing to seek help for friends who drank too much.

According to Basar, being caught doesn’t always mean a conviction and fine because issuing a ticket is done at an officer’s discretion.

“I can’t speak for every police officer but in general, if we are approached by someone in need of help, we will get that person the attention they need before giving out any tickets,” Basar said.

LANSING — A new House bill would require audiovisual recording of major felony interrogations by law enforcement officials.

Under the proposal, juries would be notified of the requirement if police fail to comply and could consider the absence of a recording when evaluating evidence.

Videotaping should be encouraged for all law enforcement agencies and funding for equipment should be provided, said Prosecuting Attorneys Association of Michigan President Ron Schafer.

But Schafer, who is the Ionia County prosecutor, said he opposes any sanctions for violations.

“You’re calling in the credibility of the officer, but you wouldn’t do that to the jailhouse snitch,” he said.

Because of some past methods used to extract confessions, Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Detroit, said recorded interrogations should be a part of Michigan’s judicial process.

An audiovisual recording would encourage law enforcement officials to follow all proper procedures, she said.

“Having a permanent recording also protects law enforcement officers from false confessions. More and more we’re finding out through DNA that we have people incarcerated for crimes they didn’t commit,” Tlaib said.

The main sponsor, Tlaib said Michigan’s lack of a statewide public defense system makes videorecording essential.

“In essence we have to get with the times in Michigan. We have to use technology to make our judicial process fair and just. It’s extremely important that we get with this trend,” Tlaib said.

Schafer said, other states, including Illinois, have variations of the law in place. Michigan does not mandate sound or visual recording or transcripts of interrogations, Shafer said.

The bill has been in development since 2006, when the State Bar of Michigan created a task force of prosecutors, defense attorneys, law enforcement officials, judges and others.

The task force oversaw three pilot programs in Washtenaw, Eaton and Jackson counties which worked out the kinks of a videotaping policy before the legislation was drafted.

The task force was co-chaired by Nancy Diehl, a former assistant prosecutor in Wayne County for 28 years.

“We’ve ended up with convictions being overturned. We want to make sure interrogations are done correctly. When done correctly, it’s the best evidence that the prosecution can have,” she said.

She cited a Detroit rape-murder case where a wrongful conviction was overturned on appeal. The defendant, Eddie Joe Lloyd, also won a civil suit requiring Detroit police to tape all interrogations of homicide suspects.

Diehl estimated the expense to outfit one interrogation room at $2,500 or less. She said many law enforcement agencies have already bought the equipment on their own.

“We’re hoping the cost won’t be overly burdensome,” she said.

Tlaib said the requirement would eliminate many high costs in the judicial process by reducing wrongful convictions and subsequent appeals.

That’s the worry of Rep. Dave Agema, R-Grandville, which led him to propose a new regulatory body to oversee amateur mixed martial arts (MMA) events.

The proposal would also make it a felony to arrange a fight between an amateur and a professional MMA fighter.

However, several people within the sport call the proposal heavy-handed and unenforceable.

MMA is an increasingly-popular sport in Michigan and around the country. Participants use a wide variety of martial arts to compete in fights.

Joseph Battaglia, a promoter with Birmingham-based Triple X Cagefighting that arranges professional and amateur events, is heavily critical of the bill.

The Department of Energy, Labor and Economic Growth regulates only professional MMA events.

“We have three to four pro matches (in Michigan) each year,” he said. “We have two to four amateur events every weekend. There’s no way the state can do it.”

Battaglia said it’s necessary to regulate amateur events, but Agema’s legislation will never work and never get passed.

Agema, Battaglia said, went to fight promoters to write his proposal, but ignored professionals who regulate events.

He said the costs in funding and manpower would be prohibitive if the state were to regulate both amateur and professional events.

The problem isn’t just the number of events that the state body would have to regulate, but the number of locations where they’re held, according to Archie Millben, a co-director at Mixed Amateur Martial Arts, a MMA organization in Waterford.

Millben said that when he oversaw pro boxing enforcement for the state, most bouts were held in the big cities. That’s not the case with amateur MMA competition.

But Agema said it’s necessary to standardize the sport across the state and get rid of promoters who ignore safety.

“There are a lot of bad actors out there,” he said. “They’ll just have a fight in a bar or a restaurant.

“We need to get qualified people in the ring.”

Ironically, the bill to increase state regulation comes at a time when GOP Gov. Rick Snyder and the Republican-controlled Legislature are calling for fewer such regulations.

Forlini said the state should create “proper safety requirements for amateurs,” because there’s nothing protecting them right now.

The proposal would set membership fees and payments, with the money paid chiefly by promoters. Amateur fighters would pay $20 for official registration and would need to submit to physical screenings. It would require a doctor’s okay before a fighter comes back into the ring following a concussion.

“Right now you can have someone knocked out with a concussion and they’ll be back fighting the next week,” Agema said. “You used to be able to just flail around, but you can’t do that anymore.”

Battaglia said higher fees and fines would be a more effective way to encourage safety than Agema’s proposal.

He also said that the proposed 2 percent ticket fee, or $300 per event, whichever is higher, would hurt bigger, more reputable organizations.

Smaller events would hit the $300 cap, but larger events, such as one that attracted 5,000 spectators to the Palace of Auburn Hills, would have to pay the 2 percent fee.

Al Low, a co-director of Mixed Amateur Martial Arts, who once served as chair of the Michigan Unarmed Combat Commission, called the proposal the same old story of a legislator trying to do something when he doesn’t fully understand the repercussions.

He said his organization can effectively regulate the sport if the state allows it to.

Low also said he’s talking with legislators, including those who helped establish Michigan’s boxing regulations, to make sure they’re aware of what’s happening.

“I’m going to do everything I can to make this right,” he said.

Low said the proposal, if passed, could stop the sport’s growing popularity and eliminate the professional leagues’ farm system.

LANSING – Legislation to formally recognize a long-standing farm environmental improvement program is well on its way to Gov. Rick Snyder’s desk for approval.

The measure would recognize the decade-old Michigan Agriculture Environmental Assurance Program (MAEAP) and add further incentives for farmers to sign up for the voluntary program.

Chief among those incentives is reduced liability for farmers who accidentally contaminate water sources. Under the bill, MAEAP-verified farms would be exempt from civil fines for “discharges” into public water.

Rep. Kevin Daley, R-Lum, who sponsored the legislation, said it would “make Michigan a leader in agricultural environmental stewardship.”

“By making it law, but keeping it a voluntary program, we believe more farmers will participate,” Daley said.

And Rep. Matt Lori, R-Constantine, praised the “fantastic program” and said encouraging more farmers to join while keeping its voluntary nature intact is the right step.

Jim Johnson, the director of the environmental stewardship division of the Department of Agriculture, said the program is the first time the state has used a “comprehensive approach” to farm conservation. MAEAP is operated by Johnson’s division within Agriculture.

Reduced liability would be mitigated by the amount of work required to become verified, he said.

According to Johnson, the average farm spends approximately $25,000 to become verified as complying with environmental standards and larger farms can spend upwards of $100,000.

The money goes to equipment to make the farms compliant with MAEAP standards, address existing risks, implement an “action plan” and participate in seminars.

The program, introduced in 2000, works to “identify, address, improve and verify” farms’ impact on the environment. Johnson said it helps farmers become more environmentally aware and make their operations more sustainable.

The lengthy process includes educational sessions, a detailed risk-assessment procedure and confirmation that controllable risks have been reduced or eliminated.

The aim is to reduce the number of discharges of pollutants.

Rep. Steven Lindberg, D-Marquette, however, wasn’t fully sold on the proposal.

While he supported recognizing MAEAP, he also voted against an accompanying bill that loosens civil liabilities for water pollution by verified farms.

“I generally think the fewer laws we have, the better,” Lindberg said, “but if we are going to do this, we need to give farmers a really good reason to self-enforce.” The enforcement provisions in the bill he opposed don’t “have enough teeth.”

However, the Michigan Farm Bureau disagrees.

Matt Smego, its legislative counsel, said its members are “very pleased” with the legislation, calling it a “good middle ground” between farmers and other partners in food production.

“It’s a great program,” Smego said of its incentive-based approach and voluntary nature.

LANSING —- A new Senate bill would prohibit the state from imposing mitigation requirements on some road projects that damage wetlands.

Sen. Tom Casperson, R- Escanaba, sponsored the measure that would apply to projects with the right-of-way of existing roads.

“The Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), is saying they can’t go along with this because it is violating federal law and the quality of environment in Michigan, but so many things can be positively affected if the bill is passed,” Casperson said.

The bill would prohibit the DEQ from imposing wetland mitigation requirements on some road projects, said Brad Wurfel, press secretary at the Department of natural Resources and Environment.

Mitigation requires new wetlands to be created if an existing one was previously filled in by road construction.

Wurfel said the DEQ can’t comment about its stance on the bill but said environmental quality could be harmed.

Ed Noyola, deputy director of the County Road Association of Michigan, said the change would benefit the road system, even though it could hurt the environment.

“This bill would definitely have an impact on roads, but for the DEQ, it could jeopardize environmental qualities,” Noyola said.

For example, it would make budgeting easier, reduce permits and make road projects more cost-efficient, he said.

“It would be a streamlined process, not needing mitigation for the building of roads,” Noyola said.

Habitat for Humanity is a community asset, Rendon said, and gives all people involved a sense of worth and direction.

“This would actually aid local economies in communities by creating work and housing. I think the plus is much more than what it would cost the local government,” Rendon said.

But if the bill goes through, it could create a division between nonprofits and local communities, resulting in a weaker program, Michigan Townships Association legislative liaison Bill Anderson said.

Under current law, nonprofits are required to ask the city or other municipality’s permission for the tax exemption. But under the bill, nonprofits would be sidestepping the dialogue, Anderson said, instead of working with the community.

“It’s a great program,” but many times people feel the organizations are not contributing revenue to the already cash-strapped communities they are working in, he said.

Most properties are donated by the city or lank banks and are dilapidated houses, which are not paying taxes, said Habitat for Humanity Michigan President Sandy Pearson.

“What we’re actually doing is creating a situation where we are building tax-generating property, so we feel we do contribute to the community,” Pearson said.

LANSING – Three years ago, a group of college women was recruited to come from Ukraine to Detroit with promises of jobs as professional dancers, but were forced instead to work in strip clubs and as prostitutes.

They are among an estimated 17,500 foreign nationals who are brought to the country annually for exploitation. The number of U.S. citizens trafficked in the country is even higher, according to Polaris Project, a Washington-based organization that works to prevent human trafficking.

Victim advocates, state officials and legislators are trying to raise awareness about the issue in Michigan.

“It is a problem all over the world and our state is not immune to it,” said Jane White, a criminal justice professor at Michigan State University and the founder of the Michigan Human Trafficking Task Force.

White said Michigan, as a border and agricultural state, is especially vulnerable to human trafficking.

“We have six different ways of entering into the country,” she said. “And we have a high demand for agricultural workers.”

Michigan passed a package of laws this year to crack down on such crimes, but Rep. Mary Valentine, D-Norton Shore, said stronger measures are needed.

Statistics show 80 percent of victims are female and 50 percent are minors.

Most are forced to work as cheap laborers or in the sex trade, White said.

A recent report by the Michigan Women’s Foundation shows an increasing trend in the number of young girls who are sexually exploited.

Bridgette Carr, human trafficking clinic director at the University of Michigan, said victims are in the state’s big cities and small towns, in hotels, restaurants and hair salons.

But she said the chance of rescuing them is “extremely low” because most people aren’t aware of the issue and can’t identify victims.

“Until we acknowledge this reality, we are not able to identify and rescue victims,” Carr said.

The Ukrainian women were rescued. At least one went home and one has a public relations job in Detroit. Nine defendants in the case were sentenced to the federal prison.

The Department of Human Services and local groups offer shelter, food, clothing, counseling and medical treatment for young victims. The department has served about 80 children in the past three years.

The Hope Project, a faith-based nonprofit group in Muskegon, also helps rehabilitate juvenile victims. It’s building a rehabilitation center with a school, facilities for activities and walking and bike trails.

Women at Risk International, a Grand Rapids-based nonprofit organization, connects rescued women and children with those who can provide shelter, therapy, child care, education and other services.

Jennifer Roberts, the organization’s executive assistant, said it also tries to identify and rescue victims.

“In Grand Rapids we have helped Homeland Security in the last year uncover one brother with underage girls and several trafficking leads,” she said.

MSU’s White said law enforcement agencies and victim services providers must collaborate to prevent trafficking, prosecute criminals and rescue victims.

LANSING— It’s stalled in the Senate, but backers of legislation to promote toy safety say they are not discouraged.

Critics such as the Michigan Manufacturers Association say the bills are too broad but they support their intent.

The legislation would keep consumers informed and require importers and large manufacturers who use “chemicals of highest concern” to disclose such information to the Department of Community Health, advocates say. The bills passed the House but haven’t moved out of a Senate committee.

“If children’s toys contain toxins, the level and which kinds of toxins are in those toys given to children– parents should be informed,” said Lottie Spady, associate director of the East Michigan Environmental Action Council. “It’s a citizens educational standpoint.” Her Detroit-based group supports the legislation.

Some of the chemicals that have been found in children’s toys include arsenic, lead and mercury, according to the Michigan Network for Children’s Environmental Health.

Sarah Mullkoff, Michigan campaign coordinator for Clean Water Action said, “There’s still some opportunity to work with the Senate during the lame duck period. With the right messenger, parents or health professionals, to speak is important for this year and this term.”

The proposal would require manufacturers to provide information to parents about the chemicals in children’s products.

But Randy Gross, director of environmental and regulatory policy at the Manufacturers Association, said the bills are too broadly worded.

Gross argues the bills apply not only to children’s products, but also to those that a child could possibly come into contact with, like a car or a chair that is not considered a product for children.

“It would just continue to handicap Michigan’s industry compared to other states– Ohio doesn’t have to do this, Indiana doesn’t, or Illinois. The focus needs to be finding a way to do this in a manageable way, so that you are not incorporating every product in the state of Michigan. It’s doing it in a way that’s reasonable so you’re actually accomplishing your goal, protecting children and their health,” said Gross.

Paul Haan, executive director of the Healthy Homes Coalition of West Michigan, supports the legislation.

Manufacturers, especially overseas, need to know what’s going in their products and inform consumers and parents, said Haan. His organization is based in Grand Rapids.

The legislation is in the Senate Health Policy Committee.

Mullkoff said it’s essential to get Senate action this year because “we may not get this chance next year.”

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